Tramper for cotton presses



Juy 31, i923.

B. c. wooDi-'ORD TRAMPER FOR GoT TON PRESSES Filed April '7, 192.1 I jSheets-Sheet 1 A v NVENTOR.

W6. BY

July 31, 1923. f 1,463,186

A B. C. WDODFORD TRAMPER FOR COTTON PRESSES A TTORNEYS July-.31, 1923. l,463,86

B. c. wooDFoRDA TRAMPER FORv coTToN PRESSES v Filed April 7.' 1921 ssheets-sheet 5' INVENTOR. 4 Wwmfwc v .BY j i l v ATTORNEYJ.

July 31, 19.23.A 1,463,186

B. C. WOODFORD TRAMPER FOR COTTON PRESSES Filed April '17. 1921 6Sheets-Sheet 4 l INVENTOR.

ll l 'E BY El .El 1 /Z ATToRNEx/s.v

July 314, 1923. 1,4631186 B. C. WOODFORD TRAMPER FOR COTTON PRESS-ESFiled April 7, 1921 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. v l

ATTORNEYS.

-I. IIIIIIIII I I II I IIIWIIJIII.

wIbTIIIIIl 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INI/ENTR.

A TTORNEK?.

B. C. WOODFORD TRAMFER FOR COTTON PRESSES Filed April 7, 1921 July 3l,1923.

| I I i? I I I I- I I I I I I I I I I I. I

| I I I Patented July 31, 1923.

UNITED STATESV PATENTVOFFICRY B'RoNsoN C. Woonroan, or DALLAS, TEXAS,AssIGNon To TH'E MURRAY COMPANY,

or DALLAS, TEXAS, A coRloRATIoN or TEXAS.

TRAMPER FOR COTTON PRESSES.

Application mea April 7, 1921. seriai No. 459,358. l'

To all whom it may concern i Be it known that' I, BRoNsoN C. Woon- FoRD,a citizen ofthe United States, residin at Dallas, in the county ofDallas and btate of Texas, have invented certain newy yand `usefulImprovements in Trampers for Cotton Presses, of which the followingl isa specification.

My invention vrelates to cotton ba-ling apparatus and particularly totrampers, so called, suchl as are employed in gin outts to tramp or packthe loose lint as it is fed into the baling box of a cotton baling pressin order to compact the same more or less withinsaid box and express theair from the cotton, preparatory to its `compression into a bale by thepress.

Trampers for cotton presses, comprise a power operated reciprocatingplunger movable into and out of the baling box, a charge of loose cottonor lint being fedinto the baling box each time the plunger is withdrawnfrom the latter, and each charge of feed into the bale box by gravity,while the plunger was out of the bale box or have required mechanicallint-cotton feeding means, to hasten the feeding operation and thesemechanical feeds have been objectionable on account of theircomplication and expense to .build and maintain.. The gravity feedSystem was simple, kbut not absolutely uniform in operation and somewhatslower than the mechanical feed, while the mechanical feed wascomplicated and expensive, requiring automatic means for starting andstopping the/feed every time the plungerentered and left the press box,with frequentresulting break downs,

so that the net result of speed and certainty for vthe mechanical feedwas notbetter than thefrravity feed; y

y invention has for its object to provide a tramper for cotton pressescapable of operating withv 'maximum speed and-'provided with amechanical feed of extreme simplicity, operating continuously withoutany necessity for any starting or stopping relative t0 theV movements ofthe plunger or anyconnection with the plunger.

cof@` yTo these ends my invention consists'j of a tramper for cottonpresses having the fea tures of construction and mode of operf ation setforth in the following description and `particularly pointed out anddefined'inf the claims at the close thereof, it being understood,`however, that I do not limit myl invention to the' specific embodimentthereof herein shown and described. l In the accompanying drawings: f

Figure l is a front elevation of a trampe for cotton presses constructedin accordance withl my invention;

Figure 21s a side elevation of the tramperi shown 1n Fig. 1;,

Figure 3 is a section-on line 3--3 of i Fig. l; y

Figure 4 `is a section on lineas- 4.y of. Fig. l; I yFigure 5 is a frontelevation of the plunger hereinafterreferred to; .Y Figure 6 is asidefview, partly broken away and in. section of the upper portion ofthe plunger shown in Fig. 5; y i f Figure 7 is a sectional elevation ofthe tramperV showing4 the feedl mechanism;

F igure` is a plan section on line8`8- of Figure 7 Figure 9 isane'levation of the tramper feeder on a line from that of Figure 7 arndon line'9--9` of Figure 7.y

plunger of my improved tramper (see Figs. 5 and 6), is made lwithfa headconsisting of a pair kof bloclsl, 1, `to 'thev under sides of which4 arefastened a plu-4 rality `ofslats, 2, spaced apart, for a purs posevhereafter to be set forth. The blocks l, l, of the head are' bolted tothe lower ends of four vertical channeliron'bars, 3, which constitutethestem or shanky ofthe plunger. The bars y3 are arranged intwopairs-and are connected intermediate their ends by struts 4 which lholdthe two pairs of 'bars rigidly parallel., At their upper endsy the twolbarsB of eachpair are `connected and 4helol in position relatively, bya cap 5, bolted to said bars. ki f Mounted upon the stem of the plungerisa transversely disposed abutment bar 15, one

absorbingA spring 151% end of which is disposed between one pair of bars3 Tandis pivotally connected thereto by means of a bolt 14, while theopposite end thereof occupies a position between the other pairof bars 3and is yieldingly supported by a. shock absorbing-spring 15. The spring15 isv mounted within a pocket provided in a bracket 16 fastened bybolts to said bars 3. This bracket 16 is made with a slot 17 that isoccupied by the end of abutment bar 15,'the ends of said slot serving asstops to limit the swing of bar`15 in either direction.

y lDirectly above the abutment bar 15, is a second bar 151 identicalwith bar 15, except thatlitf-is pivoted between the other pair of bars3, by a bolt 141, while the opposite free end vthereof occupies aposition between the other pair of bars 3, over the pivoted end ofabutment bar 15, and is backed up by a shock The spring 151a is mountedwithin a pocket provided in a bracket 16 fastened by bolts to bars 3.This bracket is similar to the bracket 16 whichcooperates with the freeend of abutvment bar 15.

l tion.

Near their lower ends the channel irons 20 have angle irons rivetedtheretowhich rest upon and are bolted to a pair of sills 28 by meansvofwhich the tramper is supported in position directly over a bale box (notshown) so. that` when the plunger is moved vertically inthe guide blocks23 it is'carried into and out of said box. p

rlhe transverse bars 21 which connect the upper ends of the channelirons 20 are angle irons, each having a horizontally disposed flange tothe under side of which is bolted a hanger 30, said hangers respectivelycarryingstub shafts 31, v311, axially aligned, butseparated, as shown,each shaft having mounted thereon sprocket wheels 32. Around eachsprocket wheel 32 passes an endless'chain 33 which extends downwardlyarpund another sprocket wheel 34. The two lower sprocket wheels 34 areloosely mounted .upon two axially aligned studs 35 mounted in. housings36 bolted to the outer sides of the upright channel irons 20, the innerends of the studs 35 being separated, in the same manner as the innerends of the stub shafts 31, 311 `(see Fig. 3), so that space is `rleftbetween the ends of shafts 31"'and 311 and be tween the ends of studs35, for the passage ofan abutment bar whichoccupies a posi- 'tionbetween the two chains 33 andmoves vertically with the plunger back andforth past the studs 35 and stub shaffts 31, 311, when the tramper is inoperation. The hub of each sprocket 34 has secured upon it (see Fig. 4)a gear 37 driven 'by a pinionBS, 'the two pinions 38 being fast on ashaft 39 that is continuously driven by a belt, not shown, engaging apulley 40 fast on said shaft. Alongside of thetix'ed pulley 40 isprovided a loose pulley 41 onto which the belt can be shifted when it isdesired to stop the machine. 4 l

When the belt is so shifted onto the loose pulley it is done while theplunger is in elevatedposition, so that the bale box may be shifted andanother bale box substituted. To hold the plunger in elevated positionwhile the machine is stopped, a brake 401 is provided, which maybebrought into frictional engagement with ypulley 40.

The two chains 33 carry, mounted between them anactuating roller 43 andwhen the machine is operating this actuating roller is revolvingcontinuously in an endless path between the endless paths of the chains'in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 1.

During the upwardr Ymovement thereof roller 43 engages the under sideofabutment bar-151, and throughthe latter actsto'lift the plunger, thero'llercarrying the abutment 4bar 151 and plunger upwardly until theroller passes aroundthe upper sprockets 32,- when the rollertravels'down the other side of the path and contacts with the upper sideyof `abutment bar 15, carrying the plunger down .into the` bale box,until lroller 43 passes under the lowersprocket wheels 34. In passingaround the lower sprocket wheels theroller 43 leaves the bar -15 andagain picks up the'ba'r`151, thus'completing` the cycle.

l have described above'the construction and operation ofthe preferredform of my plunger operating mechanism, which, as will now be clear,reciprocates continuously, with only the slightest pause at each endofthe stroke while the chain and roller pass.

` around the sprockets at each end, and may be speeded up, 'very simply,to'any practi cable extent. f

I will now describe my improved feeding mechanism. It will be obviousthat the cotton which is to be tamped or trampedl7 into the'bale boxmust be Vfed into the bale box during the timev that 'the plunger islifted out of the box-andl before it descends again into the box.Whenthe plunger is working fast, the time interval is butA short,the'complete-stroke beingmadein 12to 15 seconds Vabout half of whichtime the plunger head is below the deliveryend ofthe feed chute.. lnmachines fed by gravity,that is, in which the cotton slides through someguide way andi-s directed into the bale box,

to vovercome this tendency by providingmei chanical'means, such' asreciprocating push rods or a rotating member carryingla mul tiplicity ofprojections, 'set within and'at the exit end of the cotton chute closebehind` the gate or closure. When the gate was automatically lifted topermitthe exit of cotton the rotating member was simultaneously set inrotation and the cotton. pitched by the arms, into and across the balebox and when the gate was lowered to shutoff the cotton, the shaft wasstopped. The continual start and stop action of the feed apparatus wasdisadvantageous in many ways and resulted in wear and breaka e andfrequent repairs and adjustments. n my improved feed mechanism I providea chute X for the lint-cotton, leading directly from the condenser XXupper end of the bale box. At the delivery end of the chute are erectedtwo upright members B to form a guide and slide be-` tween which acarrier, C, is mounted to slide vertically up and down. Below thecarrier C, between the members B, is mounted a feed member, preferably ashaft D provided with a multiplicity of preferably curved arms d. Fasttothe carrier C is an ofi"- set shield or gate E, projecting into thechute, when lowered, between the condenser and the shaft D. Theate-carrier C also carries a pair of dogs which depend to a' point abouton a level with the lower side of the gate E, but on the press box sideof the shaft D, the dogs passing close to the shaft, between adjacentrows of arms d. The arms d, in rotation, pass into the path of theplunger headv (see Fig. 7) but, due to the spaces or slots formedbetween the slats 2, they move without interference with the plungerhead. It will be apparent therefore, that the formation of the pressingend of the plunger head, of slats, 2, spaced apart, serves a doublepurpose, in permitting the easy escape of air expressed from the cottonand also providing a slotted head, inthe slots between adjacent slats ofwhich, the arms d of the rotating feed member, may pass withoutinterference (see Figs. 7 and 9). One end of the shaft D carries apulley d which is connected by a belt to a pulley on a doffer roll ofthe condenser or to any other convenient source of continuous power. Itwill now be obvious thats when the tramper is in action, as the plungerhead to a position close to the is liftedit willpi'ck up'the dogs Cl andas it rises will elevate thefcarrie'r Cv carrying up the gate or shieldthus permitting the cotton-lint to slide down thechute, X where it isenga-ged by the arms d which- `travel in thepath of the cotton,and'pitched into and across the bale boxfbeneath the plunger. v

As the plunger head descends the carrier C` and its associated parts arealso lowered until before the plunger head has-passed the delivery endof the chute, the shield E r has cutoffthe accessof cotton to the armsd' which: continue tol revolve kidly untilthe lifting of the' plungerhead lifts gatelFi and f permits a further flow of-cotton lint down thechute X to the feed mechanism; The

projecting of the feed member beyond the` limits of the chute into thepath of the plunger head and directly `over thebale box is a novelfeature and of distinct advantage and the cut-off of the cotton-lintbefore it reaches the feeder is alsoga novel feature and makes itpossible to rotate the feeder continuousl'y, thus obviating thenecessity of mechanism to startr and stop the feed mechanism at frequentintervals as has heretofore been practiced,

I claimzl.` Ina cotton press, a frame made up of opposite sides;sprocket wheels separately mounted at each end of each side opposite andin axial valignment with the other separately mounted sprocket wheel;endless sprocket ,chains connecting thesprockets on each side; a plungerhead having a stem between the two sides; a -pair of actuation barssecured cross-wise of the stem and extending I between the chains; anactuating member connecting the chains and extending between the crossbars; means to rotate the sprockets;

lall combined to cause the plunger head to be reciprocated by thecontinuous revolution of the sprocket chains.

2. In a cotto-n press, a frame made up of vertical opposite sides;sprocket wheels separately mounted at each end of each side opposite andin axial alignment with the other separately mounted sprocket wheel;endless sprocket chains connecting the sprockets on each side; a plungerhead having upstanding standardsextending upward between the frame sidesafpair of actuation bars, connecting'the plunger standardsand passingbetween the chains; a roller bearing Vconnecting the chains and passingbetween path. of the cotton and the slotted plunger head; means torotate the feed member continuously; a movable gate set above the feedchute betweenthe feed member and the cotton supply; means to aetuate thegate, synchronized with the plunger,y to cut-off the cotton supp/ly tothe feeder While the plunger is below the feed shaft.

4. In a cotton press, a press box and a re. eiprocating plunger, havinga slotted head,

to receive the feeder fingers; means to aetu` ate the plunger; a ehutefor guiding the cotton lint to the upper end of the box; a pair ofvertical standards at the exit end of the t feed chute on oppositesides; a revolving shaft mounted between the standards and provided Withoutstanding fingers which move in, theY path of the cotton and theslotted plunger head,;.mea ns to., rotate the feed shaft eontin-nously;`a carrier between the. standardsvand. over the feed Shaft, vertieally sl'idable; a gate ,secured to jthe oarrier offset to project above andinto the chute, between the feed, shaft and the cotton supply; ka dogdepending from lthe carrier between the. feedshaft andthe plunger, and'above and inthe path" of theY plunger, all combined yto 4cause thelaliirlggerI to open and close thfltton eutoff gate, as; the plungerlrises and falls,

Signed at Dallas, Texalswthis 28th day of March, 1921. e

BRONSQN o, Woonrenn,

